A Matter of the Heart
by Verboten Byacolate
Summary: Maybe, in truth, he DID remember. Maybe he just wanted this story to be told. Either way, she's going to kill him. [NejiTen][Happy birthday, Tenten!]


A/N; Ha! I'm laughing, because I got the idea late at night at the hospital. The cool phrase below was taped to the windows of the nursery on Valentines Day. ROMANCE ROCKS MY SOCKS!! T.T I'm so sad that Valentines Day is over. You can't see me, but I'm virtually crying. But, yeah. I guess… this is to make up for my absence on out wonderful day of love (though every day should be that day : P)

Dedication; For the Livejournal NejiTen community and (especially) Tenten's birthday. It is, you know. The 9th of March, a day before my younger brother's.

Disclaimer; I don't own Naruto, but I do own this plot and story, in which I force Kishi-sensei's beloved characters to be part of sappy, pathetic, rot-your-teeth fluffy romantic entanglements. I know; I rock XD

**A Matter of Heart**

- o 0 o -

_Anyone can catch your eye, but it takes someone special to catch your heart._

- o 0 o -

She is grumbling, and he is quickly becoming irritated. Her normally wide brown eyes are in narrow slits, her lips have thinned considerably, and she refused to meet his gaze. Her arms remained crossed tightly over her chest, and she kept her words to him curt and monosyllabic. It was then that Hyuuga Neji wondered what he'd done.

Now, our resident lavender-eyed genius wasn't called so for nothing. He knew for a fact it was him at fault; Her time of the month had passed two weeks ago, 21 was much too young for menopause, and if it was somebody else pissing her off, she'd surely tell him about it.

So, the question remained; why was she mad at him?

They (Neji with Tenten) had just left a lunch meeting with Lee and Gai (and leaving about 15 percent of their sanity behind), and were walking through the streets of Konoha. Neji thought they were heading to their private training grounds. Apparently Tenten had other plans.

"Tenten," he said quietly, watching as she veered in front of him, and passing him entirely. "Why are we here?"

If it weren't for his Hyuuga heritage, the poor man would have flinched at the icy glare she sent his way. "_I'm_ here because this is my apartment and _I'm_ getting ready to go out. I have no idea why _you're_ here._ I_ sure as hell didn't invite you." Tenten turned back to her house, unlocked the front door, and entered the building. Without even a second glance, she slammed the door behind her.

"**Byakugan**!"

He watched as she trekked (stormed) throughout her apartment to her bedroom, opened (yanked out) the drawers in her dresser, took out (practically ripped apart) just about every article of clothing she had. He hastily shut off his bloodline when she began modeling… and it gave him the chance to ponder…

_Who_ exactly was she going out to see?

- - grr… --

"Lee."

"Neji!" the green-spandex lad flourished, slapping his male used-to-be teammate on the back (resulting in his own slap to the head). "What brings you back to me, my friend? Usually you refuse to see more than once daily." Neji smothered the urge to wince; Of course Lee had to put it so bluntly… "So, what is troubling you?"

"It's Tenten."

"Oh, Neji. I know your guardian was your uncle for most of you life, but…. Well…"

"Spit it out, Lee," Neji said dryly.

"You don't need The Talk, do you?"

A vein popped in Neji's forehead and he smack Lee upside the head. "Idiot. **No**, I do **not**. Tenten is angry, and I don't know why."

Lee cocked his head to the side. "Well, Neji, I suppose you should ask _her,_ then, not _me_."

Great. Lee wanted him to die. Fine then, he'd ask her.

- () -

"Tenten?" The man knocked thrice on her door.

**_BAM!_** "Holy son of a-!!" A screech. Silence. Neji broke through the door, Byakugan activated. "Tenten!" he yelled, running to where he saw her body. He found her on the floor, a large red punching bag situated grotesquely on her ankle. She was biting her lip fiercely, hot tears building up in her eyes. "Ow…" she whimpered. The Hyuuga hurriedly lifted the (surprisingly heavy) bag from her foot, crouching next to the woman.

"Don't move," he commanded, scooping her into his arms. She moaned, and clutched at her knee. "It hurts!"

"I know. We're going to the hospital."

Hyuuga Neji ran through the door, jumped to the rooftops, and sprinted gracefully toward Konoha's hospital. To take her mind from the pain, he asked her, "Why were you so mad at me this morning?"

Tenten kneaded her thumbs into her eyes, groaning. "You forgot, baka. Today's my birthday." Neji almost tripped. "WHAT??"

"Yeah. Good going, genius," she hissed, her knuckles going white around her leg. Neji dropped down in front of the medical facility, and his charge was immediately whisked away by a surprised Haruno Sakura, who gave Neji a sort of odd, shiny-eyed girl look. Frankly, it scared Neji, seeing as Tenten never used that look, and Hinata never needed it.

- () -

"This was all your fault, Neji," Tenten stated, readjusting her crutches and scowling all the while.

"Surely it was not my fault that you tried to put up that ridiculous red bag up on your own.:

"First of all, Hyuuga, I do not need you for everything I do. Second, it was too. I wouldn't have been there at that time and place if you'd remembered my birthday."

"Well… if it's any help for my case… here," the Jounin said, handing her a parcel. Tenten propped her underarms on the crutches and took the small package, undoing the ribbon with skilled fingers. "Neji… Oh, wow," she breathed, fingering the item. It was an intricate kunai, two silver dragons engraved on the cobalt handle. It was a masterpiece. But, just to save face…

"Meh. A cup of coffee and your attention would have sufficed," she said, but couldn't hide the smile on her face.

- - 0 - -

_Throw some woo at her. See what sticks. –King of the Hill_

- - 0 - -

**Review, you worthless peons! O.O I DIDN'T MEAN THAT! WAIT, COME BACK! NOOOOOO!!! –reaches out to retreating peons- I need your reviews! No-ho-ho-ho-ho!! –sobs pathetically into hands-**

**-Your Bya-chan**


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